Hello and welcome to another episode of Searching Standard, where each and every week I look for new, innovative decks for you to play in Standard. This week, I'm looking at a deck that was recently featured on the YouTube channel of LittleDarkFury. It features Butterfree JTG 3, a Pokemon that can lock your opponent in place by Paralyzing them. Let's get started by taking a look at the deck list.
Butterfree
LittleDarkFury
Pokemon
1 Budew 4
3 Butterfree 3
4 Caterpie 10
2 Dudunsparce 129
3 Dunsparce 128
1 Fezandipiti ex 38
1 Metapod 2
2 Metapod 11
1 Munkidori 95
Trainers
1 Artazon 171
4 Arven 166
4 Buddy-Buddy Poffin 144
1 Counter Catcher 160
2 Earthen Vessel 163
1 Grand Tree 136
4 Iono 185
2 Judge 176
2 Lana's Aid 155
2 Nest Ball 181
1 Powerglass 63
1 Professor's Research 190
4 Rare Candy 191
1 Super Rod 188
1 Switch 194
1 Technical Machine: Evolution 178
3 Ultra Ball 196
Energy
1 Darkness Energy
6 Grass Energy
For a single Energy, Butterfree JTG 3 can use its Scale Hurricane attack. When you use this attack, you'll flip 4 coins. For each heads result you get, you'll deal 60 damage to your opponent's Active Pokemon. If you're lucky, you'll get at least 2 heads, resulting in your opponent's Active Pokemon becoming Paralyzed. This can help lock that Pokemon in place, and keep your Butterfree JTG 3 safe from taking any damage.
As a means of repeatedly being able to draw extra cards, there's currently nothing better in Standard than Dudunsparce TEF 129's Run Away Draw Ability. Using this Ability does require setting things up, so keep that in mind when figuring out which of your Basic Pokemon to search for.
Budew PRE 4 is a great early game attack. You can attack with its Itchy Pollen attack and prevent your opponent from playing any Item cards. This can really slow down an opponent that is relying on Items to find the Pokemon and Energy they need. Fezandipiti ex SFA 38 is included in the deck for the use of its Flip the Script Ability, which can help you recover after suffering a Knock Out. Munkidori TWM 95 is included here as a means of removing some damage from your team while simultaneously sending that damage to your opponent's Pokemon.
Since it's important to evolve into Butterfree JTG 3 quickly, this deck includes some cards that will help with this. Rare Candy SVI 191 is the obvious card that allows you to go from Caterpie MEW 10 to Butterfree JTG 3 in a single step. Grand Tree SCR 136 can also help with this, but it will also help your opponent as well. Using the Evolution attack from Technical Machine: Evolution PAR 178 can also help you quickly evolve your team.
To find the Pokemon you need, this deck has a number of Trainer cards that will help with this. Artazon PAL 171 is a Stadium that will allow each player to search for a Basic Pokemon without a Rule Box to put onto their Bench each turn. Buddy-Buddy Poffin TEF 144 and Nest Ball SVI 181 also let you search your deck for Basic Pokemon, but Buddy-Buddy Poffin TEF 144 is limited to only being able to find Pokemon with 70 HP or less, while Nest Ball SVI 181 isn't restricted.
Some additional cards that allow you to search your deck include Ultra Ball SVI 196, to find any Pokemon you might be in need of, and Earthen Vessel PAR 163, which can help you find some much needed Energy. Both of these cards will require you to discard cards from your hand in order to use them, so keep that in mind.
As a means of drawing new cards, there's nothing better in Standard than Professor's Research SVI 190. However, when you play Professor's Research SVI 190, you first need to discard your current hand, so make sure you've played everything you need to before playing this Supporter. Both Judge SVI 176 and Iono PAL 185 reset both players hands, potentially slowing down your opponent's momentum.
By playing Arven SVI 166, you get to search your deck for any Item and Pokemon Tool you might need. While there aren't many Pokemon Tools to find, it can often be worth playing him just to search for a specific Item. Counter Catcher PAR 160 can be helpful in moving a Pokemon to your opponent's Active Spot, where you can keep it there for a while. It can also be beneficial to move a Pokemon that will provide you with multiple Prize cards when it is Knocked Out. A single copy of Switch SVI 194 is included in this deck to offer you a bit of mobility, in the event that your opponent moves a Pokemon to your Active Spot that you would rather have on your Bench.
Getting cards from your discard pile so they can be played again can be quite helpful. Both Lana's Aid TWM 155 and Super Rod PAL 188 do just this. Lana's Aid TWM 155 puts the cards directly into your hand, while Super Rod PAL 188 shuffles them back into your deck, so keep that difference in mind if you have the option to play either of them.
The final Trainer in this deck is Powerglass SFA 63, and, frankly, I don't really like this card in this deck. The only reason it could be helpful is if you move a Pokemon to your Active Spot that doesn't have any Energy attached to it. Since most of the attacks you'll be using only require a single Energy to use, there is no reason to use this effect if you already have a powered up Pokemon to attack with.
Wrapping Up
If you're not afraid of depending on a little luck in order to win matches, you should give this deck a try. Since you need to win a minimum of 50% of your coin flips when you attack, you'll likely run into situations where your Butterfree JTG 3 fails to Paralyze your opponent's Active Pokemon. If you can roll with this limitation, this deck is actually a lot of fun to play, and can even be pretty powerful.
What do you think of this deck? Do you have any suggestions for improvements? Let me know by leaving a comment below. And be sure to join me here again next week as I continue my search for innovative decks in the Pokemon TCG. I'll see you then!
- Mike Likes
